Cableway system with supporting and haul cables

ABSTRACT

In a cableway system with supporting and haul cables, a trolley, supporting a passenger car, is moved along two taut supporting cables by a haul-cable drive having two drive pulleys, two return pulleys, and a haul cable wound about the two drive pulleys and return pulleys; the haul-cable drive also having two idle pulleys fitted to the trolley and about which is wound an intermediate portion of the haul cable extending between the drive pulleys, and a retaining device for fixing firmly to the trolley the portions of the haul cable extending from the return pulleys towards the trolley.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims the benefit of and priority to European PatentApplication No. 07425837.7, filed Dec. 28, 2007, the entire contents ofwhich are incorporated herein.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a cableway system with supporting andhaul cables. More specifically, the present invention relates to acableway system of the type described in HOELZL COSTRUZIONE FUNIVIES.R.L. Patent EP 0 692 418 B1 granted on Nov. 24, 1999, and comprisingtwo supporting cables spaced a given distance apart and secured atopposite ends, a trolley fitted to the supporting cables, and ahaul-cable drive interposed between an actuating unit and the trolley tomove the trolley in opposite directions along the supporting cables.

The haul-cable drive comprises two drive pulleys powered by theactuating unit and located at a drive station, two return pulleyslocated at a return station, an endless haul cable looped about the twodrive pulleys and two return pulleys, a first pair of idle pulleysfitted to the trolley and about which is looped the intermediate portionof the haul cable extending between the drive pulleys, and a second pairof idle pulleys, also fitted to the trolley, and about which is loopedthe intermediate portion of the haul cable extending between the returnpulleys.

Known solutions of the type described above have several drawbacks,foremost of which is that of requiring not only an endless but also a“constant-strength” or “seamless” haul cable, in which the splice ispractically invisible and poses no problems when winding on and off thepulleys, because the break load of the haul cable is practically thesame at any point along it. Obtaining splices with the abovecharacteristics is not easy, and involves painstaking work that can onlybe carried out on site by highly skilled personnel, thus resulting inhigh cost in terms of time and labour.

To this must be added additional comparable time and labour costs, onaccount of the haul cable, during operation of the system, settling andstretching, so that the first splice must inevitably be followed bycutting and further splicing.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cableway systemwith supporting and haul cables, differing from existing systems, anddesigned to provide a straightforward, low-cost solution to the aboveproblems.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cableway systemwith supporting and haul cables, comprising at least one pair ofsupporting cables located a given distance apart and secured at oppositeends, a trolley fitted to said supporting cables, and a haul-cable driveinterposed between an actuating unit and said trolley to move thetrolley in opposite directions along said supporting cables, thehaul-cable drive comprising two drive pulleys connected to saidactuating unit and located at a drive station, two return pulleyslocated at a return station, and a haul cable wound about the two drivepulleys and the two return pulleys, the haul-cable drive also comprisingrelative-mobility means interposed between said trolley and anintermediate portion of said haul cable extending between said drivepulleys, to permit relative movement of said intermediate portion withrespect to said trolley; and the system being characterized in that saidhaul-cable drive also comprises retaining means carried by said trolleyto fix firmly to the trolley the portions of said haul cable extendingfrom said return pulleys towards said trolley.

Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will beapparent from the following Detailed Description and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

A non-limiting embodiment of the invention will be described by way ofexample with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a preferred embodiment of the cablewaysystem according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows schematically, with parts removed for clarity, a firstvariation of a detail in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a side view, with parts sectioned for clarity, of a detailin FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 2, and shows schematically, with parts removedfor clarity, a second variation of a detail in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4, and shows schematically, with parts removedfor clarity, a variation of a detail in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 shows a larger-scale detail of FIGS. 4 and 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference numeral 1 of FIG. 1 indicates, as a whole, one embodiment of acableway system with supporting and haul cables.

System 1 may be used on its own to form a single cable track 2, or,conveniently, alongside an identical cableway system 1 to form atwo-cable tracks, i.e. to and from cableway system 3, only shown partlyin FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, system 1 comprises a drive station 5, a returnstation 6, two parallel supporting cables 7 spaced a given distanceapart and secured at one end at drive station 5, and at the other end atreturn station 6, a known trolley 8 fitted to supporting cables 7 (FIGS.1 and 3), a passenger car 8 a suspended from trolley 8, and a haul-cableactuating unit 9 for moving trolley 8 in opposite directions alongsupporting cables 7.

In one embodiment, actuating unit 9 comprises a known motor reducer 10at drive station 5, and a haul-cable drive 12 interposed between trolley8 and motor reducer 10.

With reference to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, haul-cable drive 12comprises two drive pulleys 14 located at drive station 5 and connectedin known manner to motor reducer 10, two return pulleys 15 located atreturn station 6, and each connected to a respective counterweight 16for moving the respective return pulley 15 away from the correspondingdrive pulley 14, an open haul cable 18 wound about the two drive pulleys14 and the two return pulleys 15 (as shown in FIG. 1), and twoconnecting devices 19 and 20 fitted to trolley 8 to connect haul cable18 to trolley 8.

In one embodiment, device 19 is located on the side of trolley 8 facingdrive pulleys 14, and comprises two idle pulleys 21 fitted in fixedpositions and in rotary manner to trolley 8, and about which winds acontinuous intermediate portion 22 of haul cable 18 extending betweendrive pulleys 14. In actual use, idle pulleys 21 permit relativemovement of intermediate portion 22 with respect to trolley 8.

With reference to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, device 19 also comprises aknown sense-pulley unit 24 located between idle pulleys 21 andcomprising an idle pulley 25, which rotates about an axis parallel tothose of idle pulleys 21, and is forced against portion 22 extendingbetween pulleys 21, so as to curve part of portion 22 towards drivestation 5. Unit 24 determines any variation in the tension of portion22, and transmits a control signal to a known brake unit (not shown) forlocking trolley 8 on haul cables 7.

Alternatively, in a variation not shown, each idle pulley 21 is replacedby a respective number of side by side rollers with axes parallel to oneanother and to the axis of pulley 25, or by a slide member defining acurved slide and guide track, on which part of intermediate portion 22slides.

With further reference to FIG. 1, unlike device 19, device 20 is aretaining device, by which the two free end portions 18 a, 18 b of haulcable 18 from return pulleys 15 are connected firmly to trolley 8 toprevent any relative movement between portions 18 a, 18 b and trolley 8.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, device 20 comprises, for each freeend portion 18 a, 18 b, a joint 27 interposed between relative portion18 a, 18 b and a bracket 28 fitted integrally to trolley 8.

Alternatively, in the variation of FIGS. 2 and 3, device 20 comprises,for each end portion 18 a, 18 b, a respective drum 29, which is fittedintegrally to trolley 8 with its axis conveniently parallel to those ofpulleys 21 and 25, is located next to relative idle pulley 21, and iswound with an intermediate portion 29 a of relative end portion 18 a, 18b, the end portion 30 of which is secured to trolley 8 by a respectiveknown clamp 31 not described in detail. Intermediate portions 29 a areconveniently wound several times about respective drums 29 to form an“intermediate store” of standby cable for use during routine maintenanceof system 1 (FIG. 3).

In the FIG. 4 variation, each drum 29 is replaced by a respective fixedguide member 34, which is secured to trolley 8 and has a circumferentialouter groove 35 (FIG. 6) engaged by relative end portion 18 a, 18 b, anend portion of which is connected integrally to trolley 8 and to the endportion of the other portion 18 a, 18 b by a common clamp 36.Alternatively, the two free end portions of portions 18 a, 18 b arejoined to form an endless cable, and clamp 36 secures the join orintermediate portions of portions 18 a, 18 b directly to trolley 8.

In the FIG. 5 variation, clamp 36 is replaced by a drum 38 fixed totrolley 8, between guide members 34, and about which the joined endportions 18 a, 18 b are wound and conveniently secured to drum 38 by oneor more dead turns of the cable.

Devices 20 described, by connecting haul cable 18 firmly to trolley 8,regardless of whether haul cable 18 is open or endless, thereforeprovide, unlike the solution in Patent EP 0 692 418 B1, for totallytransferring compensation or elimination of any difference in tensionbetween the portions wound about return pulleys 15 from trolley 8 to thereturn pulleys and counterweights, thus greatly simplifying the designof the trolley.

Moreover, by enabling the use of open haul cables, system 1 describedprovides, unlike the known solution, for fast, easy takeup of anyvariation in the length of the haul cable caused by settling of thecable or normal operation of the system. In fact, in the case of theFIGS. 2 and 4 solutions, haul cable 18 is shortened by simply looseningand retightening clamps 31 and 36.

Alternatively, haul cable 18 is shorted, in the FIG. 1 solution, bysimply remaking joints 27, and, in the FIGS. 2 and 5 solutions, bysimply winding it about one or both of drums 29 and about drum 38respectively.

When using endless cables, as in the FIGS. 4 and 5 solutions, clamp 36and drum 38 provide, when performing routine maintenance and, therefore,when the system is shut down, for sliding the cable easily with respectto trolley 8 and pulleys 14 and 15.

Unlike known solutions, the characteristics described in particular,distancing from trolley 8 compensation of any difference in the tensionof haul cable 18 on the return side—enable the use of both open cables,thus solving all the problems connected with splicing the haul cable,and endless cables, which may be joined using straightforward clampsand/or in such a manner that the join is located at the clamps or drums,with no need for special joints for forming constant-strength cables.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present subjectmatter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is thereforeintended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appendedclaims.

1. A cableway system with supporting and haul cables comprising: atleast one pair of supporting cables located a given distance apart andsecured at opposite ends; a trolley fitted to said supporting cables;and a haul-cable drive interposed between an actuating unit and saidtrolley to move the trolley in opposite directions along said supportingcables, the haul-cable drive including: two drive pulleys connected tosaid actuating unit and located at a drive station, two return pulleyslocated at a return station, a haul cable wound about the two drivepulleys and the two return pulleys, relative-mobility means interposedbetween said trolley and an intermediate portion of said haul cableextending between said drive pulleys to permit relative movement of saidintermediate portion with respect to said trolley, and retaining meanscarried by said trolley to fix firmly to the trolley a plurality ofportions of said haul cable extending from said return pulleys towardssaid trolley.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said haul cable is anopen cable terminating at opposite ends with said portions extendingfrom said return pulleys towards said trolley, and said retaining meansincludes first and second retaining means, each for connecting arespective end portion of said open haul cable firmly to said trolley.3. The system of claim 2, wherein said first and second retaining meansare located on opposite lateral sides of said trolley.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said retaining means includes first and secondretaining means including, respectively, a first and second drum fittedto the trolley, and about which is wound an intermediate portion of arelative portion extending from the relative said return pulley towardssaid trolley.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein said first and secondretaining means includes, for each said drum, a respective retainingclamp for firmly connecting an end of the respective portion extendingfrom said return pulley and projecting from the relative said drum. 6.The system of claim 2, wherein said first and second retaining meansincludes respective guide members fixed to said trolley, and a singlecommon clamp interposed between said guide members to secure firmly tosaid trolley said end portions of said haul cable.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said haul cable is an endless cable, and said retainingmeans includes, for each return pulley, a respective curved guide fixedto the trolley, and a retaining member interposed between the curvedguides to connect firmly to said trolley a continuous portion of saidhaul cable extending between said curved guides.
 8. The system of claim7, wherein said retaining member includes a clamp through which saidcontinuous portion extends.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein saidretaining member includes a drum, about which is wound and secured anintermediate portion of said continuous portion.
 10. The system of claim9, wherein said intermediate portion of said continuous portion issecured to said drum by at least one dead turn of said intermediateportion.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein said haul-cable driveincludes at least one sense pulley fitted to said trolley and locatedbetween said idle pulleys to detect any variation in the tension of thehaul cable.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein said relative-mobilitymeans includes a number of parallel, side by side rollers, on which islocated the portion of the haul cable extending between said drivepulleys.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein said relative-mobility meansincludes two curved slide and guide surfaces, on which part of said haulcable slides.